Lupita Nyong'o says she 'co-directed' a scene in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey

moviesJul 18, 2026871,921

On The Tonight Show Lupita Nyong'o said Christopher Nolan asked her to assign tasks to background actors, and she realized she had effectively co-directed a scene in The Odyssey. The moment occurred during a sequence in which Agamemnon returns home and undergoes a bathing ritual while Nyong'o played Clytemnestra; Nolan asked, "Lupita, will you give the background actors their tasks?" Nyong'o gathered the background performers, assigned their movements based on her preparation for Clytemnestra, watched their work while performing, and offered notes when adjustments were needed. She also appears in the film as Helen of Troy, a casting choice that prompted online criticism she has previously addressed by focusing on the character rather than defending the casting. The Odyssey opened in theaters and IMAX on July 17. Nyong'o's account highlights how Nolan drew on an actor's character work to shape the scene around that performance.

Culture Crave 🍿

@culturecrave.co

Christopher Nolan says it will be 'at least' 3 years before his next film releases “I definitely hit the limits of my own stamina and everybody’s stamina" (via TODAY Show)

2283h ago

Justice for Roldan Anthony K Photos10

Hope the next one is fast 11

Milton E. Malespin 1

*crosses fingers for James Bond film*

Quoting this

Bird Man4

Good. Coogler and a woman director or two can fill in the time

Priscila🦋2

solo malas noticias me trae esta página

Anne Thériault

@annetheriault.bsky.social

15yo: people are saying that Lupita Nyong’o shouldn’t be in The Odyssey because she doesn’t have the right look. Like, for racist reasons. So now I tell people that I’m not going to watch the movie because Matt Damon and Tom Holland look too pasty and non-Greek. It can go both ways!!!

2053h ago

Lazylizzie21

I just think 1000 ships is too low.

NB Aging Dad8

"These fictional characters are not historically accurate" is always a weird flex to me.

Numbcat96

In the original stories Helen is the granddaughter of the literal Goddess of the Night, Nyx. The Greeks were not being subtle. Lupita is the *canonically perfect* casting decision. Shame those white boys didn’t do their homework.

rudetuesday4

I would like an autograph, please. 💜

Simon2

Matt Damon isn’t hairy enough

mbbendt1

I cannot wait to see who your kid grows up to be.

Quoting this

Josh Fruhlinger393

maybe it's not woke to say so but these bog people from the northern barbarian mists simply should not be depicting a civilized race like the greeks

Bo Thompson18

All these Beaker Bell people trying to sneak along the Mycenaeans amirite?

Nightmare Mommy, Kink Sommelier (semper infidelis)5

i literally saw someone earnestly making this argument in tiktok comments sections. i think some people literally just hate art

oldmetalpossum2

you gotta zag on the racists and tell them "you think greeks are white?"

Carl T. Bergstrom

@carlbergstrom.com

In other news I'm looking forward to seeing The Odyssey this weekend.

Tom Holland tweet: Very happy to say it again. The Odyssey is an amazing film, and missing out on seeing it because you think it’s woke or whatever is cutting off your nose to spite your face. Your loss.

Elon Musk
@elonmusk
Replying to @kevinnbass
Tom Holland is such a cuck

1591h ago

Gary Longsine 📱5

It’s clear from hundreds of video clips on every social media platform that women like being around one of those guys, and the other one had to buy a platform to p0wn the algorithm to fill a hole in his self confidence.

Cinderella Mechanicus 4

"Such a cuck" sure guy who has to pay women to bear his children.

Fryda Wolff3

Is the cool guy in the room with us, Elon.

Jen d’Arc1

Do I have to actually sit through the Odyssey this weekend to “own the cons” or can I just buy a couple tickets and not go? 🤔

Marcus1

Tom Holland who's married to Zendaya?

Quoting this

ʜᴇʟʟ-DOPA10

the successful and talented actor who’s married to one of the most beautiful women on earth, such a “cuck”

your dude4

the angriest, unhappiest, loneliest, most loveless person in the world, isolated from the rest of humanity, talking into a void: tom holland is a cuck

DiscussingFilm

@discussingfilm.net

‘THE ODYSSEY’ is now Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes at 95% • Christopher Nolan’s highest-rated movie ever Read our review: bit.ly/OdysseyDF

1331h ago

The Lucasfilm Collector

@lucasfilmcollector.bsky.social

From the Visual Effects Society: As Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey arrives in theaters today, it's a fitting moment to look back at one of the filmmakers who helped define cinematic mythology.

1334h ago

Gen X Antifa Kitty 🐈‍⬛3

Awesome movie. Medusa scared the crap outta me.

Rivyn Daniel1

Mam, i still love watching this man's movies.

The Lucasfilm Collector1

In this feature from the VFX Voice Winter 2020 issue, we examined the extraordinary legacy of Ray Harryhausen, the stop-motion pioneer whose handcrafted creatures and visionary storytelling inspired generations of filmmakers.

Omar Wasow

@owasow.bsky.social

“Each Imax film print of ‘The Odyssey’ is 11 miles long and weighs roughly 600 pounds.” www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

612h ago

Hedonist Bear

@hedonistbear.bsky.social

If you come across a movie chud complaining about Lupita Nyong'o in the Odyssey, kindly remind them that she plays Helen of Troy....who in Greek myth hatched from an egg. (Then unkindly remind them they're a fucking loser.)

7713h ago

Rough Ian ➡️ Amsterdam+Berlin, July 30-Aug 126

Just wait til we tell them what historical Jesus looked like…

Ben1

I cannot wait to see this movie!

Hellas or high water1

You can also tell them Black Greeks exist and were extremely common given, you know Egypt and Libya are right there across the sea from Greece and even closer to Crete, both of which had regular trade and cultural exchange. Fantasy is a good defence but reality itself has them fucked up.

Subscribe to Radio Free America (link in bio)

@kleinman.bsky.social

The Odyssey really is amazing. Pure cinema. Movie of the year. If it weren't for OBAA it'd be the movie of the decade.

734h ago

Quoting this

Subscribe to Radio Free America (link in bio)68

Also, maybe this is me still on a high from getting out of the movie, but it feels like it put an end to the superhero movie era. Instead of getting the gods to save him the world's smartest man must instead grapple with how to conduct himself honorably.

Amrk

@amrk.bsky.social

Also (not least because he’s actually done some whitewashing in his time) I think every halfway normal person *believes him* that he wasn’t thinking it would be cool/good to make Helen of Troy black, he just wanted to work with Lupita Nyong’o because he’s a big fan of Us or whatever

7416h ago

Birds Are Dinosaurs

@birdsaredinosaurs.bsky.social

Elon Musk: Christopher Nolan is destroying the Odyssey! This is a desecration of our culture! Chris Nolan: I read the book and I have a lot of thoughts about the laws of hospitality and how kindness to others is the glue that binds civilization together.

523h ago

Kelcie Moseley-Morris

@kelciemmorris.bsky.social

A few thoughts... 1.) Christopher Nolan's ability to use sound as a weapon in theaters remains unmatched 2.) That Cyclops is going to haunt me 3.) The Odyssey had a lot more to say than I expected it to. Five stars.

534h ago

Chippy1

Seeing it tomorrow. Glad to hear the Cyclops lives up to the hype I've heard.

Cape Cod Demon Hunter

@gonebabygone.bsky.social

There are so many people in The Odyssey that obviously not everyone gets extensive screentime but Zendaya's is so brief that I genuinely wonder if Tom Holland just asked if she could come too

494h ago

Richard Littler

@richardlittler.bsky.social

Add mythology, literature, history, art, and aesthetics to the *innumerable* other things that Elon Musk has revealed he knows absolutely nothing about. Grubby little boor. variety.com/2026/film/ne...

3615h ago

Mark Gilleece1

Cue some grifters dropping 10s of millions* on a 'historically accurate' version of the Odyssey cast with the cancelled and the past-it in olive-face, and see it make... (Juice Media calculator swatting) fuck all! *Most of these millions will not find their way to the actual production of the film.

Jamie Brooks1

He's a man who should definitely adopt "It's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt" as an ethos.

lumidek.bsky.social1

I do think that a black actor starring as an ancient Greek heroine is a deviation but a childish arrogant moron as the CEO of rocket scientists is still more pathological

Mike Godwin

@mnemonic.bsky.social

What’s deal with Christopher Nolan casting Anne Hathaway and have the leading man go away for 20 years? I mean, wasn’t that INTERSTELLAR?

323h ago

The Big Bad Wolf3

I think it's just that Ms. Hathaway enjoys Misérable roles.

Emma Dingle2

His films are Cloud Atlas'ing people across time and space.

Author Myron J. Clifton

@deardean22.bsky.social

Non spoiler review of The Odyssey But can you really spoil a 4K year old poem? Lol

251h ago

Katie is Softcore 🫶🏾💖🫂3

I didn’t even realize that was Travis Scott in the movie. But now I’m like duh I that was him 🤣. Excellent review. I also thought the poems were quite boring but the movie had me captivated from beginning to end.

3 sources

theguardian.comChristopher Nolan says people ‘disdain’ AI and the idea it will replace humans is ‘nonsense’thestar.com‘The Odyssey’ is a dazzling blockbuster. It’s also the purest expression of this one Christopher Nolan fixation thegrio.comLupita Nyong’o says she ‘co-directed’ a scene with Christopher Nolan for ‘The Odyssey’

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Lupita Nyong'o says she 'co-directed' a scene in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey

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